BARRY snooker player Alfie Davies has won the Welsh Amateur Championship after beating David John 8-1 in the final.
By winning the title, Davies, 24, adds his name to a roll of honour dating back to 1928 that features many of the greats of Welsh snooker, including Ray Reardon, who won it for six years in a row from 1950, Cliff Wilson, Doug Mountjoy, Terry Griffiths, Darren Morgan, Dominic Dale and Ryan Day.
Davies is the son of Anthony Davies, who played on the professional tour between 1991-2005 and reached a high of 26 in the world rankings, but he never won the Welsh Amateur Championship, where his best run saw him reach the final in 2007 when he lost to fellow former professional Phil Williams.
Davies was playing in the final for the third year in a row, having finished runner-up to the experienced Elfed Evans in 2023 and Alex Taubman last year. He became the third player from Barry to win the title, after Paul Dawkins in 1988 and 1989, and David Bell in 1996.
The final took place at Penygraig Labour Club on Sunday, where Davies faced John, 40, who was considered one of the world’s brightest young talents during the early 2000s, when he won the European Amateur Championship in 2002 and 2003 and narrowly lost to Ding Junhui in the final of the World Under 21 Championship in 2002.
While John did not live up to his early promise, he remained a stalwart of Welsh domestic snooker, winning the Welsh Amateur Championship in 2013 and 2016, after which he spent two seasons on the professional tour.
The final was surprisingly one-sided as Davies outclassed his opponent with breaks of 46, 61, 86, 93, 68 and 51 seeing him to a comfortable victory.
Alfie said: “I’ve felt that my game has come on a lot during the last year or two. I’ve been putting the hours in on the practice table and I’ve been fine-tuning certain aspects of my game, and now it’s bringing big rewards.
“I’ve spent much of the current season playing in events throughout Europe on the Q Tour, which is for leading players who don’t have professional status, and I was a bit unfortunate to lose a number of very close matches against talented guys.”
Davies mainly practises at the Barry West End Club, where he also works during the day. After beating John in the final, he headed to the club to celebrate with his friends and colleagues, and as an avid Liverpool fan, he had further cause for revelry as they clinched the Premier League title that same afternoon.
Later in the evening, Davies, who plays football for Cwm Talwg FC, joined his teammates for a further celebration to mark their recent victory in the Dockers Cup final. He said: “Winning the Welsh Amateur Championship, seeing Liverpool lift the Premier League trophy and joining my mates at Cwm Talwg after a great season for us means Sunday must rank as one of the best days of my life. Let’s just say I paid the price for it when I woke up on Monday morning!”
There is only room for 128 players on the professional tour at any one time, and Davies’ attentions now turn to becoming one of them when he takes part in Q School at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester later this month.
Q School consists of two tournaments which are played to the quarter-final stage, with the four winners from each event earning a two-year professional tour card.
Due to his success in the amateur ranks, Davies enters both Q School events at the second round stage, meaning he needs to win five matches in a row to earn a place among the professionals. He begins his Q School campaign on 22nd May.
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